Excerpts from nbcchicago.com:
An ordinary day at the ballpark turned into a harrowing fight for survival for one Chicago Cubs fan last summer, and this week he reunited with the man who saved his life.
During the Cubs’ Aug. 5 game, John Ginino was sitting in the stands when he suddenly collapsed. Just a few rows away, Burbank Firefighter Leo Andrade was also taking in the game, and he heard the cries for help after Ginino collapsed. For seven minutes, Ginino’s heart stopped beating. He had no pulse, and was not breathing. Andrade began to perform CPR and ultimately paramedics were able to rush him to an area hospital.
Ginino woke up in the hospital five days later, not knowing where he was or what had happened to him.
After the harrowing ordeal that the two men shared, they have become best friends, spending Thanksgiving together and, of course, going back to Wrigley Field to cheer on the Cubs. Ginino now has a defibrillator device implanted in his heart, and his reunion with Andrade this week is dedicated to one thing: encouraging others to learn CPR, the technique that saved his life in the stands of Wrigley Field.
